Continuous automatic concrete mixer



Nov. 18, 1924- r 1,516,293

M. F. HORST CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC CONCRETE MIXER Filed Feb. 20 1924 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Ajzlltozz E f/075$ Nov. 18, 1924. 1,516,293

' M. F. HORST CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC CONCRETE MIXER Filed Feb. 20. 1924 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 18, 1924- M. F. HORST CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC CONCRETEMIXER Filed Feb. 20 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 gmnto';

o Milton i'fiozjt M. F. HORST CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC CONCRETE MIXER Nov.18, 1924.

Filed Feb. 20

1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ,lllllrlllrlll llz m n I n Patented Nov. 18, 1924UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HILTON I. HORST, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNO'R OF ONE-THIRD TOCHRISTIAN HORST, 035 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CONTINUOUS AUTOMATIC CONCRETE MIXER.

Application filed February 520, 1924. Serial 'No. 694,086.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that '1, Mirrors F. Hons'r, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inContinuous Automatic Concrete Mixers, of which the following is aspecification.-

This invention relates to concrete mixers and its primary object is toprovide an apparatus which will operate automatically and continuouslyto mix concrete and deliver it at a point of use. The invention also hasfor its object the provision of a portable mechanism combining means forreceiving concrete, sand and gravel in the proper proportions anddelivering them to a preliminary mixing chamber, then conveying them toa point of discharge and continuing the mixture during the travel, waterbeing added to the commingled cement, sand and gravel during the latterpart of its travel to the discharge point, and then conveying thefinished mixture to any desired point where it is to be used. Theinvention also seeks to provide an apparatus for the stated purpose inwhich the operation of mixing and delivering the-concrete will becontinuous as long as the supply is maintained and in which the partswill be compactly arranged and will be of such type as to be strong anddurable. These stated objects and other objects which will incidentallyappear in the course of the following description are attained in suchan apparatus as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and theinvention resides in certain novel features which will be particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:.

Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved concrete mixing machine;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3' is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line H of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fi 6 is a similar section onthe line 6-6 of'Fig. 1, and a Fig. 7 1s asimilar section on the line 77 of Fig. 1.

power.

While my apparatus may be stationary, I prefer to provide for its readytravel from point to point and to that end employ a truck- 1 which maybe of any convenient construction and may be drawn by draft animals orequipped with a motor whereby it may be caused to travel under its ownWhen the truck is equipped with a motor, the same motor may be employedto impart rotation to the main driving shaft 2 but, if the truck is notmotor equipped, said shaft may be extended to any convenient point anddriven by any convenient engine. Upon the truck 1, I erect a frameconsisting of standards 3 and suitable braces 4, whic standards supporta superstructure 5 of proper form and arrangement to securely supportall the working parts. Carried by the upper ends of the standards 3 isan annular wall 6 which is connected by a cover plate or other form ofbridge 7 with an inner concentric annularwall 8, as shown most clearlyin Fig. 6. Between the lower edges of the walls 6 and 8 is an annularbottom plate 9 which is caused to rotate in the operation of theapparatus, as will presently fully appear. The cover plate or bridgemember 7 is provided at one side of the ap paratus, preferably the frontside, with an opening 10 therethrough and supported in alinement withthe said opening is a hopper or preliminary mixing chamber 11 having'downwardly converging walls and equipped with a cut-off slide or valve12 in its lower end whereby the flow of material into the annularchamber defined by the Walls 6 and 8 and the bottom plate 9 may beregulated. Supported by suitable bearing brackets 13 at the front end ofthe truck and by arms 14: extending from the standards'3 and thesuperstructure 5 are a plurality of elevators 15 which may be of anypreferred endless chain bucket type and by which the ingredients of theconcrete are carried to and delivered into the hopper or preliminarymixing chamber 11. The lower ends of these elevators are disposed withinreceiving hoppers 16 which are mounted upon the shafts 17 which carrythe sprockets 18, about which the lower bights of the elevator chainsare trained, and the side walls of these receiving hoppers convergerearwardly toward the elevators, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The shafts17 may be supported so that the entire apparatus will e reinforced andbraced b a beam 19 connected with the front end of the truck andextending between the rear pivoted ends of the hoppers, as will bereadily understood upon reference to Figs. 1 and 2. These hoppers areloosely fitted about the shafts 17 so that, when the apparatus is not inuse,

they may be swung upwardl and partly over the lower ortions of t erespective elevators, as in icated b dotted lines in Fig. 7, and securedin t e raised position by hooks 20 secured u on the standards 3 or otherfixed parts an adapted to engage in eyes 21 upon the hoppers. When theaplparatus is in use, the outer ends of these oppers are supported byprops 22in an obvious manner. In the u per ends of the frames of theelevators 15, fmount a jointed or flexible shaft 23 upon which aresecured the sprockets supportlng the upper bights of the elevator chainsand upon one section of which is secured a sprocket 24, about which istrained a chain 25 which extends inwardly from the elevators to a pointabout at the center of the machine whereit is trained about a second srocket 26 secured upon a shaft 27 journals in suitable bearings upon thesuperstructure 5, a beveled gear 28 bein secured upon said shaft andmeshing wit a similar gear 29 on the upper end of a vertical shaft 30.

The shaft 30 extends downwardly to the truck 1 and has its lower endfitted in a step bearing 31 which may or may not be of the b ballbearing type, as may be preferred. The

upper end of the shaft is, of course, mounted in a suitable bearing inthe superstructure 5 and upon the said shaft in its lower end -port1on151 secured a worm gear 32 meshing with a worm 33 on the main drivingshaft 2.

'Above the worm gear 32 I secure to the shaft 30 a plurality of radialarms 34 which extendupwardly as well, as outwardly and are rig d undersi e of the annular ottom plate 9 of the main mixing chamber. It willthus be seen that, when'rotation is imparted to the vertical shaft 30the annular bottom plate 9 will be caused to follow the movement of theshaft and motion will also be imparted to the elevators 15 so that thematerial to be-mixed will charged into the hopper 11.

Within the hopper 11 is disposed a stirrer or agitator comprising avertical shaft 35 and a mixer member 36 which is preferably.

in the form shown in Fig. 5 consistin of two loops or rings of stoutwire or a fight rod disposed in the vertical plane of the shaft and msuperposed relation, the entire mixer or agitating member resemblin aninverted fi re 8'. The lower end 0 the shaft 35 is but its upperend ismounted per 11 .is disc secured at their upper ends to the be raised toand dis in and supported by bearings 37 upon the supporting structure 5,and a sprocket wheel 38 is secured upon the shaft between the bearings,as shown. A chain 39 is trained around the sprocket 38 and around asimilar sprocket 40 secured upon the upper end of a shaft 41 which isdisposed vertically within the superstructure'5 and journaled insuitable bearings provided therefor 11 on the superstructure. The shaft41 carrying the sprocket40 is one of a series of similar shafts whichare disposed concentrically about the vertical shaft 30 midway betweenthe walls 6 and 8 and rotatably fitted in suitable bearings upon thesuperstructure. Each of these shafts has secured thereto a pair ofsprockets 42, and sprocket chains 43 are trained about the sprocketsupon adjacent shafts as shown in Fi s. 1 and 2, whereby all the shaftswill e simulta- ,neously rotated in the same direction and at and hassecured upon its lower end a pair of mixing blades or a 'tators 46 whichare disposed edgewise wit in the mixing chamer and are of suchdimensions that in one position their free ends will be disposed closeto the walls of said chamber, as will be readily understood'uponreference to Fig. 3. In operation, the material which has been given areliminary mixing in the hopharged into the space between the walls 6and 8 onto the bottom plate 9 which is rotating in the direction of thearrow a in Fig. 3 and is thereupon carried around through the mixingchamber by said moving bottom plate. Simultaneously with this travel ofthe material, the mixing blades 46 will be rotated as indicated by thearrows b in Fig. 3 and a very thorou commingling of the severalingredients w1ll be effected. At a point substantially diametricallyopposite thehopper 11, a water pipe 47 is disposed across the top of themixmg chamber to deliver water in the proper volume'to the dry mixedconcrete so that during the rest of the travel of the same it will bewet mixed.

The outer end portion 75 of each mixer blade is hin d to the main bodyof theblade, as at 72, and a leaf s rin 77 holds the two parts inalinement. hou d a large stone or other obstruction, by any chance belod ed between the end of the blade an the we l of the chamber, thehinged end will yield to and ride over the obstruction, re-

' jacent the hopper 11 is a discharge'opening 48 and extendin betweenthe two walls 6 and 8 above the bottom plate 9 at the rear side of thesaid opening in the direction of travel of the mixture is a deflectingtransverse wall 49 by which the mixed material is directed into andthrough the opening 48 to pass through a chute 50 into a hopper 51. Thehopper 51 has a discharge spout 52 depending from its lower side throughwhich the material will immediately flow to an elevating conveyer 53 andwill be received in the buckets 54 of said conveyer. The conveyer 53will discharge into a second hopper or chute 55 below which is disposeda second endless conveyer 56 which receives the concrete from the hopper55 and carries it to a delivery tube or chute 57 which is preferably ofa jointed sectional construction whereby it may be extended to anydesired point of use so that the mixed concrete may be delivered intothe wall or other;

structure which is to be formed therefrom. The elevating conveyer 53 issupported by suitable brackets, as 58, secured to and projecting fromthesuperstructure and theouter end of the conveyer 56 is supported by props59, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 1. The conveyer 56 maybe caused to deliver into a third conveyer and as many such conveyersmay be employed as may be necessary to convey the material to the pointof use. It will also be understood that the conveyers 56 may be so arranged as to successively carry the concrete to a higher level so thata" building of any height may be supplied with the concrete mixed in myapparatus. To operate the elevating conveyer 53, the shaft 60 whichcarries the sprocket 61 supporting the lower bight of the elevator chainis mounted in suitable bearings upon the truck and is equipped at itsinner end with abeveled ear 62 meshin with a similar gear 63 on t efront end 0 the main shaft 2. The conveyer 56 is driven by a verticalshaft 64 mounted in suitable bearings upon-the frame of the conveyer andof the elevator 53 and equipped at its upper and lower ends with beveledgears 65 and 66 meshing with similar gears 67 and 68 secured, resectively, upon the shaft at the upper 'en of the elevator 53 and theshaft at the front- 9. Water is supplied to this pipe 47 by 'a main 70extending partly around the outer wall 6 and downwardly to a pointadjacent the truck 1 where it is connected to the dev livery side of apump 71 which may be" of any preferred type and is illustrated in aconventional manner only. Sprocket gearing, indicated at 72, operativelyconnects the main driving shaft 2 with the shaft of the pump, and. aclutch 73 is provided upon the main shaft so that the pump may be put inoperation or cut off at will.

It may sometimes be found desirable to provide ascreen or sieve inconnection with one or more of the receiving hoppers 16. Such a hopperis shown at 78 slidably mounted on ways 79 and connected by a pitman 80with a crank 81 on the shaft 17.

The sand, gravel and cement are delivered into the receiving hoppers 16in the proper proportions and, inasmuch as the bottoms of these hoppersare inclined downwardly toward the elevators 15, the material will atonce gravitate to the rear ends of the hoppers where it will be taken upby the buckets of the respective elevators. The elevators will deliverthe material into the preliminary mixing hopper 11, the sides of whichconverge toward the opening 10 and the agitator arranged in alinementwith said opening. This agitator is constantly rotated as long as thepower of mixed material will be delivered directly into the spacebetween the circular walls 6 and 8 and onto the traveling bottom plate 9which will at once cause it to travel around through the space betweensaid circular walls and eventually reach the open ing 48 through whichit will be discharged by the action of the mixers 46 adjacent the .saidopening and the deflector 49. By the time the material reaches a pointbelow the water pipe 47 ,the several in dients Wlll. be thoroughlycommingled an the wet concrete will, consequently, be quickly brought tothe proper! consistency after the water is discharged onto the same.leakage of concrete through the space betweenthe bottom carrying plate 9and the walls 6 and 8 will be negligible, but, if it The possible 4 bedesired to guard against such leakage, packing 74 of felt or othermaterial may be arranged along the lower edges of the walls 6 and 8, asshown in Fig. 6. My apparatus is compactly arranged and is simple in theconstruction of its parts. It will operate efliciently and'continuouslyas long ower is applied to the main shaft 2. Owmg to the simplicity ofits construction, repairs are not ant to be needed but-if they 1. Aconcrete mixer comprising inner and outer annular stationary concentricwalls, a moving bottom between said walls, means for delivering materialonto said bottom, and a circular series of mixing elements disposedbetween said walls. above the said bottom for successively acting on thematerial.

2. A concrete mixer comprising inner and outer annular stationaryconcentric walls, a traveling bottom between said walls, means fordelivering material onto said traveling bottom, a circular series ofrotat-- mg mixers disposed concentric w1th and midway between the wallsfor successively acting on the material, and constantly operating meansfor continuously discharging the mixed material through the'outer wall.I

3. A concrete mixer comprising stationary, inner and outer annularconcentric Walls and a bridge plate connecting the upper edges of saidwalls, an annular bottom plate mounted for travel between the walls,means for delivering material onto said bottom plate and between thewalls, a circular series of rotatable mixers mounted between the wallsconcentric therewith and above the bottom carrying plate forsuccessively actin on the" material, means carried by the bridge platefor simultaneously rotating all of said mixers in the same direction,means' arranged centrally within the space enclosed by 'the inner wall,and constantl operating means for discharging the mixe material throughthe outer wall.

4. A concrete mixer comprising an annular mixing chamber includingconcentric circular walls and a bridge plate connecting the upperedges'of said walls, the outer Wall havin a' discharge openingtherethrough', a ,de ector extending between the walls adjacent thedischarge opening, an annular bottomplate mounted between the concentricwalls, means for efiecting travel ofsaid bottom plate in a pathconcentric with the walls, means for delivering vmaterial onto saidbottom plate at one side'ofi'the space between t e walls in a circularpath,

means for continuously agitating the material at all points of its saidtravel, "a hopper above said walls deliverin ,into the space betweenthem, means" for elivering material to 'bemixedinto said hopper, avertical shaft supported on the top of said hopper and dependingtherei'nto, lateral agitator loops on said shaft within the hopper, andmeans for continuously rotating-said "shaft.

6. A concrete mixer comprising a supportingstructure, an'annular mixingchamber comprisin stationa concentric wa ls carried y the supportingstructure, a vertically disposed shaft mounted in the said supportingstructure concentric with the walls of the annular mixing chamber, anannular carrier consti-' tuting a bottom for the mixing chamber,.

inner and outer upwardly and outwardly extending. arms below the carrierrigidly connecting said carrier with the vertical shaft, means fordelivering material onto the carrier, a circular series of mixersdisposed within the mixing chamber for successively acting on thematerialon the carrier, means for rotating thevertical shaft,-and meansabove the mixing chamber 'opera'tively connecting said shaftwithithemixers' whereby all the mixers will be simultaneously rotated inthe same. direction.

In testimony whereof 'I afiix my signature. A

' MILTON, F; HORST' a 5.1 y

